Retired sheep farmer Nicholas Cordery, 62, who is accused of being involved in sex parties involving children and animals. He owned the bungalow where the sex parties are alleged to have taken place

A country farmhouse which hosted depraved sex parties involving children and animals was at the heart of a vile paedophile ring, a court heard today.

The isolated building was used as a base where members of the child sex ring would indulge in group sex, bestiality and the abuse of girls as young as eight.

It is alleged those involved included a Household Cavalry soldier and his wife, a woman childminder, businessmen and a railway consultant.

When police searched the squalid wooden chalet they found drawers filled with sex toys, pornography, a battered-looking teddy bear and a pair of child’s Hello Kitty knickers left next to a butter dish.

The bungalow belonged to retired sheep farmer Nicholas Cordery, 62, who along with soldier Simon Davies, was at the centre of a huge police investigation into paedophilia and child pornography.

Both men, along with two others, Peter Malpas and Anthony Flack, admitted a string of sex charges when they appeared in the dock at Reading Crown Court.

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They are also alleged to have been part of the gang, who met on the internet to discuss their sick fantasies and describe how they had acted them out.

The jury was told today that the duo conspired to rape a girl, aged under 13.

Gale has also been charged with two counts of sexual activity with the girl as well as helping Connolly to facilitate the rape and sexual assault of the child.

This isolated building was used as a base where members of the child sex ring would indulge in group sex, bestiality and the abuse of girls as young as eight

They were also accused of possessing thousands of vile pornographic images of children, and sending some of them to other members of the ring.

'This case is about the sexual abuse of children by a number of people who met on the internet,' said Chrisptopher Donnellan QC, prosecuting.

'They also arranged to meet up in person - that was done in order to take part in various acts of rape and other sexual offences.'

Mr Donnellan said that the paedophile ring was infiltrated by undercover police who were able to intercept the messages sent by gang members.

He told the jury that the 'central figures' in the case had been Davies - a soldier living in Windsor, Berkshire, and Cordery who owned the farm in Murcott near Malmesbury, Wiltshire.

The court heard how 37-year-old Davies, himself a father, had groomed and raped a schoolgirl and had taken the youngster to Cordery’s farm where she was abused.

Household Cavalry Lance Corporal Davies had boasted online of how he had sex with the child and filmed their encounter, which he sent on to Cordery - who later forwarded the footage to other contacts, including Gale and Connolly.

Cordery in return had sent Davies a picture of a bestiality act - to which the squaddie replied 'Thanks for the pic - I’m totally unshockable, bi and love taboo sex.

'I’m into younger and little girls are my fave. Animal sex, dog, pig, horse and goat - I’d love to be filmed with a K9.'

The court heard that Cordery had also been communicating with Gale and Connolly about them going to the farm for a 'party' with a pre-teen girl, after they had shared naked photographs of her.

They had also sent Cordery pictures of themselves, with married Connolly, 41, posing next to a motorcycle and 35-year-old Gale standing provocatively in a bustier, denim skirt and stockings.

Gale and Connolly had left their homes in Warrington, Cheshire, to drive to Wiltshire in February 2011 but turned around when other participants pulled out.

'They stopped when they realised it wasn’t going to be the party they expected and they turned around and went back,' said Mr Donnellan.

Undercover police officers had been able to infiltrate the ring and were led to Davies following the arrest of 53-year-old Anthony Flack - who was busted in a sting operation when he agreed to meet an officer posing as another paedophile.

The jury heard that police uncovered vile pictures on his computers at home in Windsor, as well as at his Army base in Chicksands, Beds.

When Cordery was arrested RSPCA officers seized his seven dogs - many of which had been the subject of the depraved sex parties.

When police searched the squalid wooden chalet, they found drawers filled with sex toys, pornography and a battered-looking teddy bear

Gale and Connolly were also traced through computer records including emails sent to and from Cordery and arrested on December 1, 2011 in Warrington, Cheshire.

'During his arrest Mr Connolly was allowed to light a cigarette. As he did the police noticed he closed a laptop that was running,' said Mr Donnellan.

When they examined his computer they found a staggering 32,000 indecent images and 18 movies, some of them at level five - the most severe category of child pornography.

Police found a chilling video on Connolly’s phone of a man, believed to be Connolly, walking into a room where a little girl was dressed in a short tartan skirt.

In the clip shown to the jury, the girl smiled as Connolly said gruffly 'hello you'.

In the child’s police interview she said that she had been wearing a short skirt of a similar description when Connolly had sex with her.

Her skirt was later found and forensic science experts discovered traces of Connolly’s semen on it.

'She told John Connolly she was scared and he told her not to be,' Mr Donnellan told the court.

'He said he would be scared in his situation but made a joke of it. He said he would get into lots of trouble and he did not want his children’s lives to be ruined.'

Following her arrest, Gale said that she had no knowledge of emails sent between her and Connolly, using a shared email address, and Cordery.

She also denied abusing a child, or facilitating Connolly’s abuse, and said she had never had any paedophile-related contact with anyone.

Although Connolly told police that the duo had been sexual partners, Gale denied that this was true.Connolly also told police that he had been in touch with Cordery but had 'dropped him' when their exchanges became too 'dark.'

He put the images found and sent from his computer down to a virus and on the sex assault and rape accusations read a statement protesting his innocence before answering subsequent questions with 'no comment.'

Gale and Connolly both deny the charges - all of which were said to have taken place between May 2010 and December 2011.